News and Blogs

  1. Latest News
  2. Cousin Island News
  3. Blue Economy Seychelles
  4. Green Health Blog
  • Research: Roaming seabirds need ocean-wide protection, research shows

    Unlike other oceans, which are known to have specific “hotspots” where predators, including seabirds, gather in large numbers to feed, the Indian Ocean lacks such concentrated feeding areas, a recent paper has revealed. This lack of hotspots is particularly concerning given the various threats seabirds face due to human activities.[…]

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  • Saya de Malha leaves for its third dFAD clean-up expedition

    (Seychelles Nation) The Saya de Malha vessel of the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) left Port Victoria yesterday afternoon for its third drifting Fishing Aggregate Devices (dFAD) expedition clean-up exercise in Seychelles territorial waters and shores of the outer islands. As customary since the first expedition in October 2022, students from Seychelles[…]

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Coming Soon!

Coral Aquaculture Facility!

coral aquaculture web banner

We have started work on the Assisted Recovery of Corals (ARC) facility to revolutionise our coral reef restoration process Learn more

Find Us On ...

Implementing the SDGs

At Nature Seychelles we are committed to working with government, development partners and donors in implementing relevant actions, in particular, looking at certain goals where we can build on our existing strengths. Read more

Seychelles Wildlife

Natural environment of the Seychelles

Seychelles is a unique environment, which sustains a very special biodiversity. It is special for a number of different reasons. These are the oldest oceanic islands to be found anywhere...

Bird Watching

Seychelles is a paradise for birdwatchers, you can easily see the unique land birds, the important sea bird colonies, and the host of migrants and vagrants. Some sea bird...

Seychelles Black Parrot

Black Parrot or Kato Nwar in Creolee is brown-grey in colour, not truly black. Many bird experts treat it as a local form of a species found in Madagascar and...

Fairy Tern

The Fairy (or white) Tern is a beautiful bird seen on all islands in Seychelles, even islands like Mahe where they are killed by introduced rats, cats and Barn Owls....

Introduced Land Birds

A little over two hundred years ago, there were no humans living permanently in Seychelles. When settlement occurred, people naturally brought with them the animals and plants they needed to...

Native Birds

Although over 190 different species of bird have been seen on or around the central islands of Seychelles (and the number is increasing all the time), many of these are...

Migrant Shore Birds

Shallow seas and estuaries are very rich in invertebrate life. Many birds feed on the worms, crabs and shellfish in these habitats; often, they have long bills for probing sand...

Seychelles Magpie Robin

The most endangered of the endemic birds, Seychelles Magpie Robin or Pi Santez in Creole, came close to extinction in the late twentieth century; in 1970 there were only about...

Seychelles Blue Pigeon

The Seychelles Blue Pigeon or Pizon Olande in Creole, spends much of its life in the canopy of trees and eats the fruits of figs, bwa dir, ylang ylang and...

Seychelles White-eye

The Seychelles White-eye or Zwazo Linet in Creole, is rare and endemic. They may sometimes be seen in gardens and forest over 300m at La Misere, Cascade and a few...

Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher

The Seychelles Black Paradise Flycatcher or the Vev in Creole is endemic to Seychelles, you cannot find this bird anywhere else on earth. Although it was once widespread on...

Seychelles Sunbird

The tiny sunbird or Kolibri in Creole, is one of the few endemic species that has thrived since humans arrived in the Seychelles.

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Achievements

  • Stopped near extinctions of birds +

    Down-listing of the critically endangered Seychelles warbler from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened. Other Seychelles birds have also been saved including the Seychelles Magpie Robin, Seychelles Fody, and the Seychelles
  • Restored whole island ecosystems +

    We transformed Cousin Island from a coconut plantation to a thriving vibrant and diverse island ecosystem. Success achieved on Cousin was replicated on other islands with similar conservation activities.
  • Championed climate change solutions +

    Nature Seychelles has risen to the climate change challenge in our region in creative ways to adapt to the inevitable changing of times.
  • Education and Awareness +

    We have been at the forefront of environmental education, particularly with schools and Wildlife clubs
  • Sustainable Tourism +

    We manage the award-winning eco-tourism programme on Cousin Island started in 1970
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Being SMART about conservation

Volunteers on Cousin Island help Dr Johanna Storm collect magpie robin data on the island

The Seychelles Magpie Recovery Team (SMART) has just met for the bi-annual meeting to discuss the state of the Seychelles Magpie Robin. The meeting held at Nature Seychelles’ Conservation Centre on Praslin was attended by representatives from Cousin, Cousine, Aride, and Denis Islands as well as Ronley Fanchette from the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

SMART is comprised of a team of stakeholders including the ministry of environment as well as owners and managers of islands which have populations of the iconic, endemic and endangered magpie robin. The team meets twice a year to discuss the progress of the bird populations on each island. SMART was started by Nature Seychelles with funding from Birdlife International in 1999. Nature Seychelles still coordinates the meetings with its own resources since funding form Birdlife stopped several years ago. 

“This meeting was particularly important because of the drastic decline of magpie robins on Aride last year,” explains Eric Blais, Nature Seychelles Island Coordinator. “We normally come together to discuss issues and share best practices. In this meeting it was especially important to discuss what steps Aride is implementing to tackle the declining number of magpie robins on the island.”

 SMART representatives on Praslin during the meeting held last week

In 2015, Dr. Johanna Storm, Wildlife Vets International’s (WVI) expert avian surgeon with funding from Conservation International’s Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund was brought to the five Seychelles islands which have magpie robin populations to try and discover the cause(s) of the dramatic decline of magpie robins on Aride from 24 to 12 in just four months. Samples were taken from Cousin, Cousine, Aride, Denis and Fregate and taken to the UK for analysis.

“After careful consideration of all my findings and the diverse and extensive examinations performed, I have to say that I cannot pin-point one single science-based disease that could be made solely responsible for the decline of the SMRs on Aride,” Johanna stated in her report. She however made several recommendations based on her observations and findings.

In last Friday’s meeting, the SMART representatives outlined some of the ways in which they were already taking measures to try and ensure the continued protection of the SMR which until December 2014 - when the sharp mortality rate on Aride came to light - was a shining example of a conservation success story.

 Blood samples from Cousin

In the 1970s, The Seychelles Magpie Robin was down to only 23 individuals found only on Fregate Island, now they are around 300 individuals on five islands. Between 1990 and 1997, through BirdLife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) a Recovery Programme was launched to first stabilize the remaining population. In 1998 Nature Seychelles took over the Recovery Program and formed SMART to increase efforts.

When the populations had grown owing to research coupled with intensive conservation work, Nature Seychelles with the island owners and managers established new SMR populations on four more islands.

Melinda Curran the Assistant Conservation Officer on Aride reported during last Friday’s SMART meeting that the SMR population now seems more stable with three territories nesting and two surviving fledglings from 2015.

Arising from Johanna’s report, the team also discussed what they would implement across all five islands. Tests carried out showed that in all the islands, some SMRs had salmonella. It was therefore agreed that the hygiene, especially handling and disposal of raw chicken or egg shells needs to be addressed through strict policies, and staff on the island educated on the importance of adhering to these rules.

 Dr Johana Storm showing a volunteer how to handle a bird during her visit to Cousin Island

It was also stressed that bio-security is of utmost importance. This means ensuring there is no introduction of invasive species and where present they should be eradicated. In Aride it was specifically suggested to eradicate mice in a way that would not harm SMRs as well as the other many bird populations, not to mention other wildlife on the island.

Reportedly, after the eradication of the invasive Mynah birds on Denis Island which ended in 2015 there has been an increase in SMR numbers on the island. In 2015 there were 65 individuals and by July 2016 there were between 75-80 individuals, 3 of which were the original trans-located individuals from 2008.
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“In 2005 the Magpie Robin, which was previously on the brink of extinction, was down-listed on the Red List of endangered species from Critically Endangered (the highest threat category) to Endangered, a significant and world class success story,” says Dr. Nirmal Jivan Shah, Nature Seychelles’ CEO. “Importantly, managers and owners of islands have taken responsibility for the conservation and care of the Magpie Robin populations established on their islands” Shah noted.

Partners & Awards

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Our History

Since 1998.

Seychelles Nature, Green HealthClimate Change, Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainability Organisation

@CousinIsland Manager

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Roche Caiman, Mahe

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Centre for Environment & Education

Roche Caiman,

P.O. Box 1310, Mahe, Seychelles

Tel:+ 248 2519090

Email: nature@seychelles.net